White County Sheriff Doug Maier addressed the White County Board during its regular meeting Tuesday night and said he had received only one bid for a new roof for the White County Courthouse.

The lone bidder was identified by the sheriff as Tie On Roofing of Carmi and the bid presented three options for consideration: New shingles can be placed over the old ones, the old shingles can be removed and new shingles put on, or, the board could opt for a metal roof with a shingled appearance.

Though the metal roof was the most expensive option (about $50,000 as compared to a tear-off and new shingle price of about $40,000), the sheriff, the board and retiring White County Circuit Court Judge Thomas H. Sutton seemed to agree the best option was the metal roof due to its predicted longevity of 40 years.

However, despite the agreement of those involved, no formal action will be taken until the next county board meeting in December.

Judge Sutton also addressed the board about his retirement at the end of the month and told them he has served for 24 years as judge and 13 years as state's attorney and has always appreciated the cooperation of the current and past county boards.

The judge said he hears a lot of complaints from area state's attorneys and judges about their county boards and the strife that often erupts within them. He said that has never been the case in White County, adding the boards "have always been forward looking."

He said the City-County Jail was probably the best thing the county ever did and said it was a good move to have the annex and the office space of the current coroner's and state's attorney's offices.

"I want to thank you and everybody else that went before you," Sutton said.

The judge also said incoming White County Circuit Court Judge T. Scott Webb, like Judge Sutton, has served as a state's attorney, which provides needed experience in dealing with county boards. He said, because of this experience, the good relationship between the board and the judge should continue.

In other board news, the board heard a presentation from Regional Office of Education (ROE) Superintendent Lawrence Fillingim who told the board the state is pressuring regional offices to combine services into one special education and one vocational education district within their regions.

Currently, Fillingim said, the local ROE 20 is the only ROE in the state that has accomplished this goal. The state is also pushing for more counties to be included in each ROE.

ROE 20 currently has the most counties with eight, serving Edwards, Gallatin, Hardin, Pope, Saline, Wabash, Wayne and White counties. The ROE is considering approaching Hamilton County about becoming part of ROE 20.

ROE 20 currently has 20 separate school districts. Hamilton has only one, so the total number of district would only go to 21, as opposed to approaching Jefferson County, which has 20 districts by itself.

Page 2 of 2 - Fillingim said he was at the meeting to simply seek guidance from the board about approaching Hamilton County and the board agreed.

The board also approved an engineering agreement for a bridge on Old Enfield Road that will be paid for with federal and state funds exclusively.

The board approved the salary of County Highway Engineer Brian Ray at the state recommended level (with board member Mike Ray abstaining). If the county set his salary at the recommended level, the state will then pay the majority of his salary.

It was noted Ray has declined a raise the last couple of years and this raise will be about four percent over his current salary, with the state paying about $85,000 toward the total salary.

The board approved the reappointment of Ray Smith to the Egyptian Health Department Board.

The board also heard a farewell and thank you from board member Nancy Mitchell, who has served on the board for 10 years and chose not to run for reelection. She also thanked the elected officials in the county for their cooperation with budget issues.

Board President Wes Trout thanked Mitchell for her service and cooperation across party lines over the years.